Chapter 3: Eric's POV

Eric was pissed. Royally pissed. He had had it all figured out. Jeanine was going to inject the Dauntless with the serum, they'd kill off all the Divergents, including that old coot Max, who we all knew had a divergent streak in him, and then Eric would take over the faction. But then those two stiffs had to go and run off like cowards and blow it all to shit.

Now Eric found himself wandering around the city for the fifth day in a row and he was really starting to get irked. Jeanine had been talking about razing Abnegation. Eric knew of her hatred of the faction and he thought the measure to be a little extreme, but he found himself unable to really give a shit. Hell, a pair of stiffs had started this mess in the first place.

Eric and his team of Dauntless soldiers, including Peter, who had somehow managed to weasel his way into Dauntless' good graces, had scoured Dauntless and Erudite already. Clearly the stiffs and their ragtag team of refugees were smart enough to not lie wait in the lions' den, so now Dauntless were headed to Candor. At the very least, even if the stiffs weren't there, the Candor would at least give them some honest information, and information was something Eric desperately needed right now.

Around midnight, he and the Dauntless reached the gateway outside the Candor building. Eric almost laughed at the faction's protection. Four security guards, armed with nothing more than a couple stun guns, stood at arms. He and the Dauntless made quick work of the guards. Eric quickly barked out instructions to detain - by whatever means necessary - any remaining guards they came across. Soon, Eric threw open the main glass doors of Candor, and his men made quick work of the guards. Eric noticed a few slumped over with bullet wounds, but he couldn't find it in himself to care. Right now, he needed to know where those fucking stiffs were. There might even be some divergents in Candor who were working with them.

Eric got to the front desk of the main hall, where a young woman was watching the commotion. Eric had to admit, she was pretty, but he was smarter than to date a Candor smart mouth. Eric much preferred when women's mouths were giving him pleasure rather than yapping in his ear. He resolved to get some information out of her quickly and be on his way.

"Who are your divergents," he barked at her.

"Last I checked, I don't answer to you," she had the nerve to reply. Insolent little chit.

She was really starting to piss him off. He leaned right up into her face to try to intimidate her. "I'm going to say this again. Who. Are. Your. Divergents?"

"I can see why you're not Erudite," she said with a gleeful smugness. It took everything Eric had in him to not kill the bitch right there and then. "Nevertheless, I'll repeat it again for your Neanderthalic brain. I. Don't. Answer. To. You." That bitch had the fucking nerve to point her finger into his chest. Oh no she didn't. Eric was not going to let her get away with this; he needed to make sure the little shit knew her place.

He threw her up against the wall and began to start choking her. Her eyes widened briefly with fear, which caused a little jolt of sadistic pleasure to travel down Eric's spine, before she quickly masked it with a blank face. Damn, for a Candor, she's really good at hiding how she's feeling.

He heard Peter behind him laughing at the scene. "Let her go, Eric, if you kill her, we won't have any fun with her. And she is pretty feisty," he said, leering at her.

"Shut up, Peter". Eric was already starting to get annoyed at the opportunistic little fucker. Still, he recognized the truth in Peter's words; if he wanted information out of the bitch, she needed to be able to speak. Reluctantly, Eric let go of her throat. He wasn't stupid enough to just let her walk away, though. No, instead, he quickly drew his gun and pointed it towards her forehead, threatening her.

She blinked, and then pulled the butt of the gun against her forehead. Eric was shocked - no one, not even the women at Dauntless had that kind of balls to do what she just did. He couldn't help but feel his dick twitch a little bit. Still, now was not the time to be distracted. Get your shit together, Coulter, Eric chided himself.

She still had the nerve to try to defy him. Eric stared at her for as long as he could to try to intimidate her into submission. He knew he was an intimidating yet well-built man, and many an intense stare with women had either led to them looking away in fear or gazes traveling down his body in lust. The Candor girl, however, continued to maintain his eye contact with a fiery glare that had Eric's heart skipping a beat. Begrudgingly, he looked away, trying to think of everything he could to put his growing erection at bay.

He put the gun into her back and she started walking forwards. Eric couldn't help but check out her ass as he walked behind her. Clearly Peter had the same idea, since he looked at Eric and then nodded to her conspiratorily. Eric grimaced and felt a flash of jealousy. Wait - jealousy? He was Eric Coulter, ladies' man, a hitter and quitter. He was never jealous, certainly not over some Candor bitch. Eric needed to find a way to get this bitch out of his head, but first, he really needed some information to track down those damn stiffs.

"Show us somewhere we can stay for the night," he ordered her. Silently, she began leading them down a marble hallway towards a series of sleek escalators. He, Peter, and a few other Dauntless entered into the elevator with her. The others waited outside; they'd guide them to the right place through their radio comms. She pressed a delicate finger on the button for the eleventh floor. Eric took a moment in the elevator to admire how her shiny hair cascaded in gentle waves from her ponytail. God, how he'd love to grab that ponytail while he - no. Eric forced himself to relinquish his fantasies. He'd never want to be with such a defiant little shit. But, oh, imagine the satisfaction if he could be the one to finally rope her into submission - seriously, Coulter, get your shit together!

Eventually, the elevator dinged open and they followed the girl - Eric realized he still didn't know her name - down another marble hallway. Eventually, she led him to a series of guest suites on the far end of the building.

"You can stay here," she said coolly. "There are bedrooms with fresh linens and some showers. I'll come get you in the morning to show you where the kitchens are."

"Thank you," Eric replied calmly, leaning closer to her. "What's your name?"

She narrowed her eyes in suspicion at him. "Alissa," she replied.

"Alissa," he repeated smoothly, hissing the Sses and liking the way it rolled off of his tongue. Eric brushed her hair off her shoulder, subtly placing a tracking chip in the back of her neck. He wasn't stupid enough to just let her run off after showing them to their rooms.

The girl turned around and walked out. Eric found himself desperately in need of a shower. He grabbed the largest one and let the steamy hot water roll down his toned, muscular body. He quickly took care of himself in the shower, which wasn't an uncommon occurence for Eric, but this time he couldn't help but find himself moaning the girl's name. Alissa, he hissed to himself, half in reverie. Finally, he finished, and disgusted with himself, Eric rinsed himself off and turned off the shower.

He seriously needed to do something about that girl. It infuriated him how much he both hated her and needed her, but he was Eric Coulter, and he couldn't afford any distractions on his rise to power. God, what was he going to do about her?